Marketing amid coronavirus: Focus on genuine connection

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Jeff Koons' Hanging Heart at the Beyeler Foundation (gold/magenta), 1994-2006 high chromium stainless steel with transparent color coating 291 x 280 x 101,5 cm image © designboom

█ Luxury brands have scrambled to respond to the coronavirus crisis, which has challenged them to create meaningful marketing campaigns that resonate rather than offend.

Although there is no end in sight yet for the epidemic, markets are warily expected to improve by Chinese Labour Day. The five-day holiday in May is set to become a turning point in the overall economic and consumption recovery. Kering chairman Francois-Henri Pinault stated that he anticipates the market to rebound rapidly once the epidemic is brought under control. But any rebound will be proportionate to how individual brands respond to the outbreak, and some brands have been quicker than others.

“Brands and KOLs have an important role to play in sharing trusted information,” says China marketing expert Olivia Plotnick. “Appeasing worries and softening anxieties go a long way in building a genuine, authentic relationship.”

Beauty brand Perfect Diary shared safety recommendations with its readers, informing people to constantly wash their hands and wear masks. Social media platform Douyin launched an information page that provides updates on the spread of the coronavirus.

Ashley Galina Dudarenok, the founder of social media agency Chozan, says that “fashion brands should not shy away from epidemic-related topics on social media, but rather think from the perspective of consumers and provide them with practical suggestions”.  Some good examples include Gucci’s creative director drawing Heavenly heart, my heart comics for China, and Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton sharing posters of health blessings with their audience.

Many white-collar workers are working from home for the first time, and many more people are still under some form of quarantine. “The epidemic is on everyone's mind. People are anxious and nervous. They are experiencing a huge range of emotions. That needs to be translated into giving readers something valuable for them to learn, for them to do while staying sensitive to everyone's feelings," says Plotnick. 

Dudarenok adds that “people are spending more time on their phones. Brands should leverage all online channels by simultaneously publishing on Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu and Douyin to reach as many consumers as possible. Focusing on using [innovative] and suitable marketing strategies such as interactive, engaging games is a great way to build a brand-customer connection and to take people’s minds off what’s at hand.”

Perfect Diary released a mobile game, especially for their Valentine’s Day campaign. Daily active users of popular mobile game Honor of Kings rose from 65 million before the crisis to 100 million over the past Lunar New Year holiday.

For fitness-oriented brands, tips on staying healthy were well-received by consumers. Under Armour encouraged readers to exercise by sharing a four-day exercise schedule, emphasising that all the exercises could be done from home, with minimal equipment and space needed — showing sensitivity for readers stuck inside. Sportswear giant Nike shared a similar routine and sparked a conversation around what readers and their loved ones were feeling and experiencing the tumultuous period. Fitness brands like Supermonkey and Lululemon have been broadcasting online exercise classes through live-streaming channels while gyms are suspended. 

Brands should think about how to best serve their audience in line with the ongoing crisis, or they could otherwise be seen as opportunistic or insensitive. “An advertisement promoting Huawei TV screens for blind dates was released during the epidemic. It caused a stir on social media, spiking much criticism,” says Dudarenok, referring to a now-deleted ad posted by George Zhao, president of the Huawei honor on Weibo, showing two people who wanted to get married over the spring festival but couldn’t due to the coronavirus - in the end it was settled that they stay in touch through their honor screens. Chinese netizens denounced it for being an inappropriate time to market and flaunt products in the face of the epidemic. “In short, no matter how good the form or intentions are, it won’t save the defects of the content,” adds Dudarenok.